It’s odd , not sure what Shanahan was trying to do there , rip the ball out of his hand ??
But hits him in the face instead . Obviously more is been made of this because of the broken jaw but I really don’t think he set out to strike him .

Shanahans contact to Regans head was clearly accidental, and was open-hand. Its actually hard to understand how that contact produced that injury. It’s so brief even pause and replay don’t show hardly anything, the only thing to be said is Regan lowered his head and lifted his arm which sent Shanahans hand(not easy to say!) up to his face.

But because of the injury and the fact that Kerry have so publicly made it clear that “we’re not going to be pushed around anymore” the last two years(clever referee propaganda as well of course), I can understand some of the reaction.
But in truth a lot of it is Mayo trying to distract from the fact they lost to 13 kids. They really ought to be disgusted with themselves. And whatever about what’s not said in public, I actually think they could’ve done with some outward expression of self recrimination about some of their performances in the last two years.

Kerry of course had also set out to prove a point after the way they got beaten in the All-ire SF, and their kids clearly have no fear. All the more reason why Mayo should’ve kept the boot on the throat at any opportunity, whatever it might taje(in terms of league prep/training, player selection etc). They’ve had so many damaging league defeats the last few years how could they hope to close out a huge game in late summer. They have not really prepared for it.
Maybe they really don’t give a fiddlers about those games though, their focus being so intensely on the main prize. But that too I feel is also not helping get over the line, ultimately.
I do honestly see evidence that since 2012/13 they have let ‘fear of defeat’ go to an extent that has helped them compete so well in the major games. But fear of victory is clearly still an issue to an extent.

Most fans view things through their own color shades with a considerable amount only seeing the wrong doing on the opposition side.

Gaa fans are not different in this respect to other sports fans.

On another note our former minor star Cian Hanley (brother of Pearce) is returning from Australia. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him drafted into the Mayo panel but would caution excepting anything big from the lad this year.

My two cents worth is that I would hate to think that a player would intentionally set up to injure a player. Instead what I see more often is a mix of the player in possession getting a good side step and the defending player been guilty of poor positioning and footwork to be in a place to stop the player legally and ends up throwing a lazy arm effort which unfortunately ends up been a high tackle.

I think you’re very close to the mark there but you neglect to include the element of chance. It was the timing of Regans moves, including his arm raising, as S. put his arm up that resulted in S’s hand ending up in contact with Regans face. It happened in a fraction of a second like a lot of things.

No I fully agree about them being rode - like I said that referee did not make the cut the following year. As @mayoman said earlier too the clash of heads was also a significant factor. As for the final if they made it - Donegal got their tactics right (something Mayo can’t seem to do on the big day) in 2012 and left Mayo floundering and unable to recover but Mayo have dished out a few hidings to Donegal too either side of the 2014 semi … who knows what might have happened.

Donegal were not only not at the races in 2013, they weren’t even heading to the bookies, they were that off the pace. That game in 2013 against Mayo is not submissable. Subsequently Mayo had a very good win against them in 2015, Aidos barnstorming goal against what was often in that era a guerrilla army full-back line should’ve heralded a breakthrough for Mayo but in the semi-final, even after ■■■ innocently took ROC out of it, Dublin handled AOS well, and over the two games were clearly the better team and coach.

It would be fair to say Mayo weren’t ready against Dgal in 2012, but the fact is that one team had the forwards and the defensive tactics to do it, the other didn’t. Donegal won an All Ire ultimately because apart from all the stuff every team needs to get into a position to have a real chance, they had Murphy, McBrearty, and McFadden was on fire.

But the narrative became “if only Mayo didn’t concede the early goals every time in the final”, which was ignoring the more obvious reasons for the goals, and was clearly debunked by the 2013 final. But then the goalposts () got changed to “if only Mayo didn’t concede a soft goal at a vital stage”, conveniently ignoring that they had scored a very good goal at a vital stage, and then didn’t respond well to it.

On that subject, it’s interesting to note that in most of the big games since 2012 Mayo for all their consistently slight deficit in forward ability against the other best team(s) in the year, they have managed to get a goal, and often at a stage that should have propelled them to push on, or to hold on (Andy Moran’s in the 2013 final, and in the 2014 semi final replay; COC in the 2015 replay, not to mention after the - joke of a - penalty late in the drawn game; Chucker Keegan in the 2016 final replay, and the 2017 final).

On another note re-Mayo and major games lost, I watched the 2014 semi-final replay there again and as regards the second half there were several refereeing decisions that made the difference for Kerry to be level at the end of normal time. The first penalty was a clear dive under minimal contact by JOD.

The second penalty came from a perfect interception by the Mayo back, which ended up with JOD flying through the air with the greatest of ease but only because his swinging foot about to shoot came into contact with the back’s foot/ankle, which was already in contact with the ball. Hard one for the ref etc to see but clearly the wrong decision and if he had any doubts at that stage he should have played on, especially after the controversy of the first decision. (Mayo were not helped by not having protested).

There were also two frees given leading to almost certain points, one of which was never a foul on Dorothy, the other where advantage was played and the shot had gone wide. If Robbie Hennelly’s fantastic effort from the last kick of the game had another yard on it, justice would have been served.

So to correct my previous assertions, regardless of whatever defensive and tactical errors Mayo had that day, they deserved to have won and were robbed by the ref.

Having watched the Galway v Mayo game live and then the highlights last night on League Sunday:

I look forward to James Horan calling out Aidan O’Shea for his antics (diving again) just as he did for Jonny Cooper recently.

Cill1an O’Connor is the biggest coward playing the game at the moment. To add to his previous sly digs on opponents, he once again forearm smashed an opponent from behind and rightly so got red carded. It was a despicable and disgusting thing to do.

Lost a lot of respect for Tomas O’Se with his analysis last night. His only comment for what Cill1an O’Connor did was that it was ‘Silly’ … Flicking someone’s ear is a silly thing to do, smashing them from behind with a forearm is far more serious and O’Connor should be called out on it.

Right we need cheering up after hearing Bernos bad news. I have pasted Willie Joes responses to all the enemies of the state of Peoples Champions nation of MayoGAA blog.

Okay, to all of you who have either had comments deleted or not allowed up at all today, this one is for you. For everyone else, this is a small insight into what Comment Moderation HQ can sometimes look like. Here goes:

Jon – have you really not got the message at this stage? Comments that blatantly break the rules are not going to be posted here.

Jeff – I think I let the odd one or two up from you today. Control your emotions, for the love of God. Maybe reread what you’ve written before you post. It’ll help, trust me.

Bottler jobs – ■■■■ off and annoy someone else.

Bill Connolly – back again, I see. You have neck, I’ll give you that.

Mighty Quinn – your talents will flourish on Facebook, I’m sure.

Mayoman – you knew what you were posting was against the rules but you did it anyway. Double the time in moderation for dumbness.

Dan (not the real one who posts here all the time) – find an original handle for posting here. Find a brain while you’re at it.

Hon Mayo – you’re clearly being ironic with that handle in light of what you tried to post.

Hontheros – nice to know that bitter, twisted and sad people are still alive and well.

GAA – clearly you don’t speak for the GAA. Clearly you’re a Kerryman still protesting too much after last weekend.

Marybeau – another person who hasn’t got the hint at this stage, always a pleasure to see you crawling out from under that stone whenever a Galway match is on. You’re another one for whom Facebook would be an ideal outlet for your talents.